CA members see no problem in Roxas confirmation as DOTC chief

Members of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) on Thursday said they don't see any problem that would prevent Mar Roxas from being confirmed as the new secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). "As far as I know I do not see nay roadblock in the confirmation of Mar," Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who also chairs the CA, said during the weekly forum at the Senate. On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III announced that Roxas will be replacing Transportation chief Jose de Jesus, whose resignation takes effect June 30. Roxas is president of the ruling Liberal Party while Aquino is its chairman. Roxas was Aquino's running mate during the 2010 automated polls. He lost to Vice President Jejomar Binay but has filed a protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. Binay supporters At the same press briefing, Enrile said that even those who supported Binay won't be able to criticize Roxas, who served as senator from 2004 to 2010. "I do not know of any issue that can be raised against Mar. I think he is competent enough to handle any job in the government," he said. Even Sen. Francis Escudero, who supported Aquino and Binay during the 2010 elections, said he does not have anything against Roxas' appointment. "(I) can only speak for myself. He has my vote in the CA," Escudero told GMA News Online in a text message. Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, another CA member, added that Roxas is an "asset" to the administration and that there shouldn't be any opposition to his confirmation. "Everyone wants to see major headway in the transportation sector projects, especially our ports. If he is the man to do it regardless of (his) political affiliation or block in Malacañang, he should have everyone's support," Cayetano told GMA News Online in a separate text message. — Kim Tan/RSJ, GMA News